Object
Draft Local Plan
Representation ID: 13648
Received: 23/03/2016
Respondent: Mrs Helen Gabell
See full representation. Dumping large numbers at Dunton, near the already much higher than Brentwood numbers that Basildon is forced to provide, means that a ghetto situation arises. This will cause tension in all communities in the area. Sites should be found elsewhere within the heart of the Brentwood borough, rather than in the isolated position of Dunton, where there are easily accessible facilities. A traveller child died crossing the A127 recently to get to amenities, and if BBC force them to be south of the A127 they will be risking this happening again.
Placing at least 20 sites in the 'strategic' location of Dunton is unfair on local residents in the surrounding area. This is as far away as it is possible to be from the rest of the Brentwood Borough, bordering as it does the Basildon Borough, which already has to place far in excess of any traveller pitches than anywhere else, not only in Essex but most of the country. The Basildon area has had to pay for the fiasco resulting in the removal of the illegal pitches at Dale Farm, and is now being told to not only provide Green Belt space for all of those illegal residents, but also account for any population growth that may occur from them, plus extra provision for all legal travellers. To dump Brentwood's allocation so close to the high numbers of travellers in this area sound too much like a ghetto situation is being created, which is not good for the travelling community or the neighbouring non-travelling community. The travelling community has to have easy access to adequate medical and educational needs. This will not be provided in an environment like Dunton, where it is isolated from the rest of the Brentwood borough by the busy A127 and A128. As proved recently when a traveller child died crossing the A127 in Basildon, it is unsafe for them to isolated from other amenities.